001. VIDEO // UN: ANIMUS

[bottomofthelist]

[ The feed is dark and rustling noises come from somewhere to the left. It’s clear whomever is attempting to use the device is still adjusting to the way it works. There’s a sigh, a click and the feed clears, lightens, and as the figure in front of it leans back it finally focuses.

There sits a stern-looking woman in a long coat with a notebook in hand, legs crossed, staring into the camera. She idly taps a pen against the paper with her other hand—a mechanical one. ]

Hello, Prismatica.

I’ve been here for a short while now and I thought I ought to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Anna Ripley, I’m a scientist and engineer. Mechanics and chemistry are my specialty, but I do have some experience working with arcane pathogens.

It has come to my attention that there is one such pathogen making its way through the Lunatian population.

[ She glances down at her notebook, rattling off information as if by rote. She seems awfully calm about this. ]

Symptoms include paralysis, crystallization of the body, aggression...I’m sure many of you are already aware. Should any of you begin exhibiting signs of infection, please make your way with haste to the Moonlight Medical Center; I’ll be there in the later hours to monitor the progression. For those who haven’t shown symptoms…[ She stares back up at the camera. ]...you shouldn’t need me to tell you to utilize proper preventative measures.

On a potentially unrelated note; I’ve noticed something peculiar since coming here, but I’d like to gain more information:
 

How many of you were dead prior to your arrival? Have you suffered related ill effects since coming here?

Comments

Text | un: music2myears

[afoolshope]

None so far. Why do you ask?

[bottomofthelist]

Call it curiosity. Where I come from, a successful resurrection at the very least takes a noticeable toll on those brought back to this mortal coil.

[afoolshope]

Resurrection generally doesn’t happen at all where I’m from. My only concern had been if my presence here effected anything at home but I’ve been told that nothing happens back home, it’s as if we never left.

[bottomofthelist]

[ That certainly answers a question she hadn’t asked, and was frankly trying not to consider. ]

You know this for sure? If that’s the case, then that makes things rather difficult.

[afoolshope]

Yes, I do.

The world would have ended otherwise.

How does it make things difficult for you?

[bottomofthelist]

It means I’m trapped here, unless I want to be dead again. And I’d rather not be, if it’s all the same.

...What do you mean /the world would have ended/? Is that a joke?

[afoolshope]

Considering that’s the same for me, I don’t blame you. I get to see some of my friends one more time.

It’s a long story, but I guess the condensed version is that humanity in their collective unconscious wished for death, and this wish reached the Goddess Nyx who would deliver it to them. The one this reaches her is through Erebus, the manifestation of all that grief and negativity. With a power that I’d gained, I chose to be the Seal over the door to Nyx. If Erebus can’t reach her, then humanity lives on.

That’s why I was initially worried when I arrived here, but I’ve met several people from at least seven or so years after my time. So, at least for that time, humanity lives on and my presence here doesn’t effect anything.

text; un: arima kishou

[prodigism]

The only affects I have are the ones prior to my arrival here. My degenerative disease is still here. Though I guess moonlacing restores what it destroys...for a limited time.

[bottomofthelist]

I see. I have been told of chroma exhibiting regenerative properties, though I haven’t yet had the chance to test its effects.

It seems it’s good for just about anything.

[prodigism]

It's an interesting...effect. Using contact to give people energy and healing.

[ He's not the touchy feely sort but...even he has to admit that having his eyesight back is nice. ]

Almost anything. My eyesight still degenerates if I don't moonlace often enough. So it's not a sure proof fix.

[bottomofthelist]

Hm. So it’s not a solution to the problem so much as a mitigation.

[ Admittedly, she’s been putting moonlacing off, for the most part. She tells herself it’s because she’s busy. ]

I can’t say I was expecting to be able to, say, regrow a limb with a little hand-holding. Nevertheless, I’m eager to explore its limits in the future.

video | un: druidic

[arrowroot]

[Ana has never been so grateful for her armor before. Whatever is happening to people is horrifying and she wants nothing of it.

As for the question...]

I have died, but I came back before I ever arrived here.

[bottomofthelist]

Am I correct in assuming there were no extenuating circumstances that would...hmm.

[ How does she put this. There’s really no elegant way to ask if someone’s an undead, is there? ]

You were...fully alive before ending up here, yes?

[arrowroot]

[She blinks a bit at the hesitation, but the question clarifies it pretty quickly.]

Oh! Yes, yes I was. I'm not a lich or anything of the sort. The... short version is I made a deal with the judge of the Domain of the Lost to eradicate a being that shouldn't have been there in exchange for my return to life.

[bottomofthelist]

[ Most of those terms are something Anna doesn’t recognize, but the word “lich” does ring a bell. A thought occurs to her to make some quip about resurrection technicalities, but what comes out instead is: ]

Was it worth it?

[arrowroot]

[Ana has dealt with liches.

She doesn't like them. Nor would she want to be one.]

Of course. I wasn't done with what I needed to do. I couldn't just leave it unfinished like that.

text | un:havefaith

[peacewithouttyranny]

Dead. My body functions normally and no ill effects since my arrival 11 months ago.

[bottomofthelist]

Well, I suppose that answers my concerns as to the long-term. Perhaps my concerns were unfounded.

[peacewithouttyranny]

Still, I do find it suspicious I was able to resurrect in another world without any side effects.

Plus, I didn't ask to be alive again.

video, un: hexadin

[halforc]

Why do you want to know if people were dead before they came here? Whatever the Prismals did, they're not sharing it with us.

[bottomofthelist]

I find it somewhat suspicious that this place would resurrect people from another world for the purpose of, as far as I’m aware, utilizing them as a power source. Resurrection is costly—one would assume it easier to use the living, yes?

[halforc]

[ His memories draw up the sight of Jester with a diamond, kneeling over Caduceus; Molly's coat fluttering over a grave. ]

Maybe the value of the person is incomparable, they might not want just any living person in their city.

[bottomofthelist]

[ That gives her pause—there’s a moment where she’s silent, like she’s contemplating the statement. ]

...That possibility stands, yes. And from what I’ve been gathering, it seems as though there are no short-term consequences from being brought in from the dead. Thus far, anyway. All the same, I can’t say I’m ready to take all this as simple charity.

[ But it’s better than being a corpse. ]

[halforc]

[ It's just a hunch, but. ]

... Were you dead?

[bottomofthelist]

I was. I was killed, and then awoke here.

[ She’s got no reason to hide it. ]

[halforc]

Oh. Sorry to hear it. [ And because he's not as sensitive as Jester, ] Did your consciousness cut off and then you woke up, or were you awake from one moment to the next? Did it hurt and then not? I'm feeling rather curious too, now.

[bottomofthelist]

[ That nets him an actual grin. Who is she to refuse open curiosity? ]

Hmm. No, I don't recall a point in-between, so to speak. It did hurt—rather badly—and then there was darkness. After which I awoke in a mess of crystals, much as I'm sure you did. I would liken it to being knocked unconscious, if messier.

[ Wait. ]

...actually, no. There was something. After losing consciousness, I believe I had the...impression of a presence. It was brief, but foreboding. After that, nothing.

[halforc]

[ Just darkness. That's horrifying to hear, reminding him of Uk'otoa and the abyssal depths of the ocean where the god was trapped. ]

Which presence was it? [ His nose wrinkles as he hums to himself. ] It wouldn't be the Wildmother, so we can count her out.

[bottomofthelist]

[ The memory gets fuzzier the more she tries to focus on it, like a fading dream. But given her situation at the time of her death, it’s not hard to take an educated guess. Her smile takes a wry twist. ]

Given the circumstances, I doubt it would have been anything benevolent. [ Then that last comment sinks in. ]

...by Wildmother, are you perhaps referring to the deity known as Melora?

[halforc]

[ Drawn out of a hum of agreement, he sits up a little straighter when this complete stranger uses the Wildmother's real name. ]

Yes! I'm her Paladin. Are you from Wildemount?

[bottomofthelist]

[ She leans back in her seat, eyes wide. She’d expected a lot of things out of Prismatica, but given how alien it was to her, seeing another from her world so soon wasn’t high on the list. ]

That’s exactly right. Huh. I can’t say I’d anticipated meeting someone from the same world, much less the same region. Where are you from, Xhorhas? Not the Empire, surely.

[halforc]

Ah, no. Menagerie Coast, actually.

[ The Nein's sweet Xhorhaus best remain a secret, even in this land. ]

I have some friends from the Empire, we recently travelled to Rexxentrum. Is that where you call home?

[bottomofthelist]

I‘m unsure if I would call it a home, but yes—I worked in Rexxentrum for a time before traveling abroad.

[ She makes it sound far more leisurely than it really was. ] I’ve been to the Coast, as a matter of fact. Fair weather, fair culture. I suppose I can say I’m fond of it.

[halforc]

[ Who doesn't love a little sunshine and seafoam? She sure does sound like she makes good decisions. ]

Nicodranas is always up for a good time, day or night. [ Not home, that will always be Port Damali in his memory, but very familiar and comforting. ] I don't believe I introduced myself! I'm Fjord of the Mighty Nein.

[bottomofthelist]

[ Anna has never made a bad decision in her life, ever. ]

Anna. Having read my entry I'd assume you would already know that, but let's make it official. I'll be sure to remember your name, Fjord. [ And that of what she...assumes is his crew? ]

video, un: thereth

[unholy_rebirth]

[That's not a question you expect to be asked to a large portion of any given population, and yet it's not as strange to Thereth as it might be to others. She almost feels awkward answering it...but it's not like what she is can be hidden, at least not back home. Might as well be honest about it.]

I am undead. But - I do not feel different here. I only arrived this month, though, and I haven't had...my...moonblessing? [She waves her big hands a little, unsure as to the proper lingo.]

This pathogen...is it contracted by touch?

[bottomofthelist]

[ Truth be told, Anna hadn’t experienced hers yet either, apart from a vague change in mood. She’d consider herself lucky if she believed in such a thing. The mention of undead doesn’t faze her—she’s worked with people who were less-than-alive in the past—but she jots the notation down in her notepad nevertheless. ]

I am...a new arrival as well, but your information remains of value to me.

As for the pathogen, there’s insufficient evidence to suggest whether or not the illness spreads via touch. The patients I’ve seen so far have all been...physically bitten by another of the infected, so I think it’s safe to say that is a major mode of transmission.

[unholy_rebirth]

Mmm. [Her brow creases slightly at the mention of biting, but she nods.] I...suppose that makes it simpler to avoid, at least.

[pause.]

You said "potentially unrelated"...do you think there is a connection? If...there is, I...could try to help...

[Thereth don't volunteer yourself for experiments pls.]

[bottomofthelist]

To that of the once-dead and the virus? Hmm. I have little way of knowing for sure, but as far as I've gathered it takes those who were living as well.

[ She quirks an eyebrow. ]

Why, you don't think you've contracted it, do you?

[unholy_rebirth]

Well, no, but...I assume there aren't many other undead here who could...offer their expertise.

[At...being undead. Look, she's just trying to help!!]

Or perhaps I am wrong?

[Text] un: firefist

[burnt_offering]

I was dead. Haven't experienced anything physically rough or worth noting. Didn't even wake up with scars or injuries.

[bottomofthelist]

It seems my concerns may have been off-base, seeing as most of whom I've spoken to appears to be saying much the same. I...must say, it is somewhat of a relief.

[burnt_offering]

It's weird, but I'm not complaining. I'd rather be alive and in one solid piece than what I was dealing with before.

[bottomofthelist]

I have to say I agree with you there. While I am...unsure as to my feelings on being effectively trapped here, I suppose there are worse places to end up.

[burnt_offering]

I'll take whatever I can get. There's still a lot going on that worries me, but I'm with my brother and I'm doing okay. Not bad for someone who had a hole in him before getting here, anyway. :)